Page 61 of Last Mile

Willow nodded. “It’s funny to listen to him eat it, too. He chomps

it so loud,” she said, with a giggle.

I couldn’t help laughing at both her enthusiasm and the fact that I was about to meet the pet deer of hardened bikers. It was all just too bizarre. It was sure as hell not something I would’ve found in any of the files on the Raiders, nor would anyone at the bureau have believed me if I told them.

Poe started slowly out of the woods, putting one long leg in front of the other. But then as if he sensed a stranger, he momentarily faltered. Willow shook the cup at him. “Come on, Poe. Samantha won’t hurt you.”

His love of corn overrode any remaining fear. He quickly made his way across the backyard. When he was in front of us, Willow reached over and scratched along the ridge of his nose, which he appeared to enjoy. Then she poured out the cup’s contents onto the grass in front of her. Poe immediately dipped his head and began to eat. At the loud crunching, Willow laughed. “See?”

I smiled. “Pretty funny.”

As Poe continued to chomp on the corn, Willow asked, “Wanna pet him?”

“You think he’ll let me?” I questioned.

“You won’t know unless you try.”

“True.” I reached out my hand and brushed it down Poe’s flank.

“Interesting.”

“What is it?”

“He feels different than I thought he would. He’s soft but not as furry.”

“His coat is pretty thin now that it’s summertime. It’ll thicken up again in the fall,” Willow said, matter-of-fact.

I grinned down at her. “My, my, aren’t you the deer expert?”

“After Aunt Annabel rescued Poe, she and Uncle Rev bought me lots of books on deer.”

“I hear Uncle Rev loves to read.”

Willow nodded. “Yeah, he loves books almost as much as my mommy and I do.” She ran her hand down Poe’s spine. “Aunt Annabel knows the most about animals because she’s in vet school, but she likes all kinds of books, too.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I got Uncle Rev a book for his birthday.”

“He’ll love it.”

“But I didn’t tell you what it was about.”

Willow gave me a little huff. “You don’t have to. He loves all books.”

“Yeah, well, what if it’s a book about doll collecting?” I countered with a smile.

Wrinkling her nose, Willow said, “No. He wouldn’t like that one very much. He would probably end up giving it to me.”

I laughed. “You don’t have to worry. I skipped the one about doll collecting and got him one about military strategies in the Revolutionary War.”

“It sounds boring, but I know Uncle Rev will love it.”

“Thank you. While I would like to take all the credit for picking it out, your uncle Bishop gave me some suggestions.”

“Hello there,” a voice called behind us.

I whirled around to come face-to-face with Bishop’s mother, Elizabeth Malloy. After reading about her in the bureau’s files, I couldn’t help being intrigued by her. As a child and teenager, she had been the epitome of a Goody Two- shoes. Just as she graduated with honors from

high school, she had met John Malloy at church. It was an unlikely match, considering that she was one of the deacons’ daughters, and John was fresh out of prison for armed robbery. Of course, in those days, John had rehabilitated himself from a former biker hood to become a born- again Christian. Later he would become a preacher and start his own church, Soul Harbor. But then thirteen years into their marriage, John seemed to snap one day. He went from loving husband, father, and minister back to outlaw biker. While they had never officially divorced, he and Elizabeth, or Beth as she was known, never lived together again.